What can Christmas teach us about managing stressful situations?
How stressed will you get about Christmas - do you even have a choice? Yes, you have more control than you think. I considered a few different approaches over the weekend (since the when the kids were tiny) and found there are some ways to navigate the stress.
With 5 birthdays in the run up to Christmas this time of year is usually a challenge - each year I’ve explored different approaches to manage the stress load.
Some years I haven’t been prepared and as the workload increased I became increasingly burned out and wrought. I’ve had a few Christmas’s either still working or not completely present with the kids as much as I’d like.
In the past, as an anthesis to this, I’ve cancelled work in the run up to Christmas to deal with the load. But that ended in a bit of overkill and I became frustrated.
Other years - and this is me all over and likely a neuro-spicey tendency too - I’ve hyper managed and way too early, creating intricate lists and stressing over minute detail in order to create the ultimate incredible best-ever birthdays and Christmases and not mess them up. The only mess was me.
This year I’m rolling with it. We’re two birthdays in, three to go. The kids want phone upgrades, which in our house is a massive treat since ‘having the latest’ is way down on my family values list.
This presents a ‘known’ that can be organised ahead. Phew.
What are the other ‘knowns’? Knowing who’s making and decorating the cake (big on the family values list is being very creative with the cake design), knowing who’s organising balloons and decor and creating more space than usual in the diary for last minute trips to town (sounds simple but amazing what can get in the way).
As a bonus this year, I’ve also managed to shop for the entire Brundrett family and delivered the parcels on a family get together a fortnight ago. No posting. All done. And I cheated. Earlier in the year I found some really gorgeous ‘functional items’ with great designs and they have one each. Same item, different design. I like this and I’ll cheat again.
So what’s the learning here?
Finding the balance between hyper organising and no organising - roll with it
Organise what you can - find the ‘knowns’ and then
Deal with what you can in advance
Book in extra time in the run up for last min supplies runs - manage the schedule
Know who’s doing what and delegate
Don’t stress!
I’ve found rolling with it is actually quite a good approach, it’s taken the pressure off having to be minutely organised and taken the anxiety from not being anywhere near organised.
Perhaps I’ve found the sweet spot.
What tactics do you use to manage Christmas season?
I also use two incredibly helpful tools I’ve developed over the years in the approach to Christmas (and end of summer term for parents) - a needs creed and a manifesto. I use both and they’re fantastic for approaching stressful occasions in a calm way. The former clarifies what’s important to you and therefore how to navigate it, and the second is a team exercise that communicates everyone’s desires and wishes, laying expectations and seeing what is manageable.
Does this resonate? Then let’s prepare. For Nov & Dec 'Wednesday Webinar' sessions we’ll explore two excellent preparation tools to give you calm and confidence over silly season. The first is this Weds at 12.30pm. Here’s the link to register: https://kateb.co.uk/wednesday-webinar
If you'd like a personal session on the two tools, or expore tactics to deal with your own stressful situations just reach out and let's chat. https://kateb.co.uk/appointments or sign up to the mail list for updates and actionable tools for leadership and stepping into your Zone of Brilliance™ https://kateb.co.uk/updates
